RESALE VOLUME
HDB said the resale volume in the second quarter up to Jun 29 this year was 6,409. This was 4.6 per cent lower than the same period last year.
It is also the lowest in the last three years since the third quarter of 2020.
ERA Realty Network’s key executive officer, Eugene Lim said the latest round of cooling measures implemented in April “may have caused some HDB homeowners to reconsider their plans to upgrade to a private home.”
“Also, the current high borrowing costs have led to the postponement to upgrade to resale private homes and as such, this could also have contributed to the lower resale HDB volume,” he said.
A price mismatch between sellers and buyers also led to a lower transaction volume, said Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons’ Asia.
Additionally, buyers were lured to the BTO market as the HDB increased the supply of flats with shorter waiting times, Mr Lee said.
13,000 BTO FLATS TO BE LAUNCHED
HDB also said a total of 13,000 BTO flats will be offered in the second half of this year, about 31 per cent more than the 9,923 units launched in the first half of the year.
The numbers are subject to review as more project details will be firmed up closer to the launch dates, HDB said.
These flats will be launched in towns and estates like Kallang, Choa Chu Kang, Queenstown, Bedok and Bishan.
“To meet the increased housing demand, HDB has ramped up the supply of BTO flats by 35 per cent, from 17,100 flats in 2021, to 23,200 flats in 2022, and 23,000 flats in 2023.
“HDB will continue to monitor the housing demand closely and continue to maintain a steady pipeline of supply. Meanwhile, we remain on track to launch a total of 100,000 flats from 2021 to 2025,” it said.
Ms Sun said that some demand may be diverted to the BTO market with these launches.
“Some first-timers may be enticed as HDB will launch more flats in mature estates like Kallang, Whampoa, Queenstown, Bedok and Bukit Merah which are usually popular with buyers,” she said.
The completion times for many of these projects may also be shortened, she added.
Mr Lim meanwhile expects the HDB resale market will continue to stabilise with the BTO launches.
“This shift could prove advantageous for new homebuyers seeking their first property in the resale market, as an increasing number of sellers may become more aware of prevailing market conditions and may adjust their price expectations realistically,” he said.
Source: CNA
